Understanding
Congress

Proportional representation based on state population

For example: California has 53 Representatives, while Alaska Delaware, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont all have 1 Representative.

Representatives are most connected to the issues affecting their individual districts, or the districts around them. They may be in close communication with state and municipal government officials such as state representatives, county chair people, or mayors.

Representatives are in perpetual “election mode” because of their short tenures and the pressure placed on them by 24-hour political reporting by the media.This unpredictability and scrutiny can lead to high staff turnover in the member offices, but it also ensures that Members are responsive to the will of their constituents and accurately reflect their district’s needs — which is part of the reason the House is known as “The People’s House.”

25 YEARS OLD TO RUN FOR OFFICE

Representatives are often younger, and their levels of political experience and institutional knowledge of the legislative process vary greatly.

Senate: Quick Facts

Understanding
Congress

Senate: Quick Facts

Known as the “Upper Chamber”

Senators are inclined to focus on the bird’s eye view of their state, its needs, and how it may benefit or be harmed from changes to federal law.

Senators are better able to cultivate and carry out long-term legislative strategies and priorities because of their considerably longer terms. They are not as beholden to election cycles, and their staff tend to remain in their positions for longer.

30 YEARS OLD TO RUN FOR OFFICE

Senators typically have longer tenures in public service and politics, often times as state legislators, governors, or congressional representatives before they are elected to the Senate.

Who’s in Charge?

Understanding
Congress

Congressional Leadership

While partisanship has become a negative word today — with many voters identifying as “independents” rather than Democratic or Republican — our two party system still plays a very important role in both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

After each election, the party that wins the most representatives is designated the “Majority” in each chamber and the other party is called the “Minority.”

These labels matter because the majority party holds the most important leadership positions, such as Speaker of the House.

caucus

conference

At the beginning of each new Congress — just like our upcoming 115th Congress, which began in 2017 after the 2016 election — each party gathers to discuss party policy, key themes, and select their leaders by majority vote.

Leadership in the United States House of Representatives

Can you imagine 435 Members all trying to make decisions together?

The sheer numbers in the House of Representatives require leaders to coordinate the lawmaking process and, as a result, House Leaders tend to have more power over their Members than their Senate Leader counterparts.

Four Key Leadership Roles in the House of Representatives

Speaker of the House

The Speaker of the House or “Speaker” is known as the most powerful and is, arguably, the single most influential legislator in both chambers (although a Speaker’s influence depends partly on how he or she is viewed by colleagues).

The Speaker has several important responsibilities:

Presiding over floor proceedings

Influencing which bills go to which committees

Appointing the majority party’s other leaders

Ruling on question of parliamentary procedure

Majority Leader

In the House, the Majority Leader is generally the second ranking member of the party and, like the Senate, serves as floor leader. Usually, the Majority Leader is hand- picked by the Speaker and is charged with assisting the Speaker in designing the party’s legislative program. Speakers often serve as Majority Leaders before ascending to the top ranking position in the party.

Minority Leader

The Minority Leader is the top ranking Member of the minority party in the House of Representatives. While their power is generally limited, should an election shift the party balance and put their party in the majority, the Minority Leader is often first in line to become the next Speaker.

Assistant Floor Leader

Both the Majority and Minority Leaders have Assistant Floor Leaders, commonly known as “Whips.” These assistant leaders are primarily responsible for counting heads, rounding up party members for votes and quorum calls, and standing in for the Majority and Minority Leaders in their absence.

Leadership in the United States Senate

Generally, Senate leaders — as opposed to House leaders — are historically known for having respectively little power for their positions.

Four Key Leadership Roles in the Senate

Speaker of the House

Under the Constitution, the president of the Senate is the Vice President of the United States; however, the Vice President rarely sits in the Senate. As such, a President Pro Tempore is selected to take his or her place. This role is largely ceremonial and is filled in rotation by new or junior Members.

Majority Leader

The Majority Leader is usually the most influential person in the Senate and, along with the Minority leader, is known as a Floor Leader. He or she can influence the Congressional agenda, help assign Senators to committees, and can begin debates on legislation.

Minority Leader

The Minority Leader has less power than the Majority Leader, but shares Floor Leadership resonsibilities and leads the party not in power.

Assistant Floor Leader

Like the House, both the Majority and Minority Leaders have Assistant Floor Leaders, commonly known as “Whips.”

How Congress Works (or Doesn’t)

How Congress
Functions

When people think of how Congress works and what it does, their high school civics class and lessons about how a bill becomes a law may come to mind.

It’s this idea that a bill is introduced, it gains support, and then it’s passed and then signed into law by the President.

As many know, in reality, it’s not so simple.

Lawmakers are often under immense pressure to hold certain policy positions — either due to their constituency or their party leadership.

In addition, Members of Congress are also required to balance individual policies on a range of issues alongside national priorities.

In short: while our issues are deeply important and have significant implications for our industry, lawmakers are viewing these concerns through the lens of upcoming elections, ongoing national and international events — all at the top of mind for both constituents and Congress due to the dawn of the 24 hour media cycle.

But, that also means that there are several strategies, channels, and opportunities to advance policy positions.

The Uphill Climb: From a Concept to a Law

How Congress
Functions

The step-by-step process through which an idea for change becomes the law is arduous, unpredictable, and subject to the procedural challenges that accompany congress. It may be hard to imagine, but even just introducing a piece of legislation is a major accomplishment for a lawmaker — and that doesn’t even factor in the process for moving the bill through Congress.

Step 1: Planting an Idea

First, lawmakers must become aware of and educated on an issue or concern. Although they spend a considerable amount of time on their home turf, it’s largely impossible for them to truly have a pulse on all of the critical issues facing their constituents without being proactively approached.

Inside-scoop

They are often motivated to act after meetings with their constituents, organizations, through correspondence with an agency, and various other channels that keep them informed about the issues and policies that matter most for everyday people.

Step 2: Crafting a Bill

To begin the process, lawmakers and their staff work closely to identify the policy they wish to enact, change, or revoke in their bill — and then put it down on paper. They work with legislative experts to ensure that the actions in their bill are viable and legal. They will also recruit sponsorship from other lawmakers and endorsements from relevant stakeholders such as trade associations or non-profit organizations — in fact, efforts to garner support for a bill will continue throughout the entire lawmaking process.

Inside Scoop

More and more, Members are likely to only expend time and resources on introducing a bill on a topic for which they feel truly compelled to act. For most, this means serving on a committee that would be tasked with taking up the bill or having a personal connection to the issue at hand.

Step 3: Introducing a Bill

Once the bill language is prepared, the lawmaker formally introduces the bill and it will be officially posted to the Congressional Record. The lawmaker’s press and media department will usually release a public statement and the office will likely begin to receive questions, comments, critique, or requests for further co-sponsorships.

Inside-scoop

After this point, non-sponsoring Members will be interested in how the bill is publicly perceived and will begin to track to what degree they are being lobbied heavily on the bill from stakeholders, particularly those within their state. This may be the point when they assess whether or not to become co-sponsors of the bill.

Step 4: Moving a Bill Through Committee

Every bill that is introduced is assigned to a committee based on the topic area it covers. Committees are made up of several Members that are tasked with discussing and changing legislation (or “marking it up”) before it can be considered by the entire body of Representatives or Senators. If the committee takes up consideration of the bill, votes, and approves it — the bill will move onto the floor for general debate and consideration.

Inside-scoop

The majority of bills will only be referred to their committees, but not taken up for further consideration. In fact, since January 2015 alone, more than 10,000 bills have been introduced. Given the sheer volume of bills introduced each year, the substantial number of procedures that must be followed before the bill receives a vote, and specific priorities of the Committee Chair — who decides which bills are actually considered before the Committee — most bills do not progress through this step of the standard legislative process.

Voting for the Bill and Sending it Forward

If a bill has made it to either the House or Senate floors for consideration, members will be given a certain amount of time to debate and offer their own changes to the bill. Once changes to the bill are agreed upon, the body of members votes. Then, if the bill passes, it will move to the other chamber of Congress to be considered.

For example, if it originates in the Senate, it will move to the House next. Then, if the House only has minor changes to the bill, it will go back to the Senate and typically the changes are quickly agreed to. However, if major changes are proposed, a committee of both House and Senate members come together, known as a “conference committee” to reconcile their differences more thoroughly.

Inside-scoop

This step requires a great deal of collaboration and compromise to push the legislation over the finish line. At this point, both bodies of Congress have put their time into considering the legislation, often making it more difficult to address inconsistencies and changes between the House and Senate versions.

Step 6: Approval of the Bill

Once a bill has been passed through both the House and Senate, or the conference committee comes to an agreement on the language of the bill, it will be sent to the President. He will either veto — or reject the bill — or sign it into public law.

Inside-scoop

If the President decides to veto a bill — that veto must be overridden by a two-thirds majority of members in both the House and the Senate. However, given the partisan divide and the numbers necessary to gain a two-thirds vote, the vast majority of vetoes are not ultimately overridden.

Congress in Action: Types of Legislation

How Congress
Functions

Bills

A bill is a proposal that if enacted, becomes the law. Bills are numbered, and you may have also noticed the letters they are assigned as well. “S.” is a Senate Bill and “H.R.” is a House bill.

Most bills give certain government agencies the power to implement and enforce the policy proposed in the bill under their authority and expertise.

Some bills call for direct spending, which is referred to as appropriating in the congressional world. These bills aim to fund many programs and projects across the country.

Inside-scoop

In the current political climate where party identities create disagreements and gridlock — many bills are seen as too controversial and, as a result, very difficult to pass. For example, a bill that is perceived to grant too much or not enough authority to a government agency is bound to spark intense debate and immense scrutiny.

Resolutions

There are three types of resolutions:

Joint Resolution: Just like a bill, a joint resolution must be approved by both the House and the Senate in the same terms, signed by the President, and then becomes a law.

A joint resolution is different from a bill based on the situations for which is commonly used. It is typically invoked when Congress must pass legislation to solve a temporary problem, authorize use of military force or declare war, or amend the Constitution. Joint resolutions are given the designation “S. J. Res.” and a corresponding number.

Simple and concurrent resolutions:These resolutions are non-binding, meaning they do not become a law. They are symbolic, ceremonial, or commemorative.

A simple resolution desiganted as (S. Res.) may be introduced in the Senate and does not require approval from the House or the President before entering the Public Record.

Similarly, a concurrent resolution, which expresses the sentiments of both the House and the Senate as “S. Con. Res” does not require the President’s approval before enactment.

Inside-scoop

Members often will introduce or co-sponsor resolutions that pertain to topics of interest for them. For example, a Member with a vested interest in eye care might introduce a resolution that promotes aspects of vision health and awareness. In 2009, Congress approved a resolution designating 2010–2020 as The Decade of Vision. This allows them to demonstrate their vested interest in the cause and balance the difficulty of pushing a bill through Congress.

Money, Money, Money: Scoring Legislation

How Congress
Functions

Nearly every bill voted on by Congress must now receive an official “score” of its impact on government spending or taxes, which is determined by the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

If a bill “scores” — that is, the bill is not budget neutral — and requires new government spending, Congress is required to offset the new spending by savings from (or cuts to) current programs, commonly known as “pay-fors.”

While there have been exceptions to this requirement — for example, Congress has occasionally passed legislation for disaster relief that has been exempt from this rule — the work of considering how to pay for new spending has become standard practice.

Inside-scoop

Finding these offsets for pay-fors can be challenging because most Members have specific priorities and programs they want to protect, so taking funding from one program to support another can lead to internal conflict and debate between parties or specific Members. As a result, it’s become increasingly common for Committees to largely take-up legislation that doesn’t score or is budget neutral.

Alternative Pathways Forward

How Congress
Functions

Alternative Pathways Forward

At this point, you may be wondering how Congress accomplishes anything given the roadblocks to passing a bill into law. While the traditional process of legislating is unpredictable and poses real challenges, lawmakers have several alternative strategies for effecting change and communicating their message.

Administration/Agency Engagement

The Agency

The Executive Branch of government is made up of the office of the President, his Cabinet members, or the heads of various agencies, and the agency staff who work to implement and enforce laws that Congress pass.

Agency staff have streamlined, often in-depth knowledge on the topic they cover for that specific agency and department. Congressional staff often rely on agency staff for specific information on the topics they cover.

The Power of the Agency

Congressional and agency staff work together and communicate to make sure that laws are implemented effectively. Sometimes, if a lawmaker wishes to clarify or change policy, it can be done by an agency without formal congressional action because the agency has the authority to handle the matter independently.

Lawmakers can accomplish some of their legislative priorities by prompting agencies to conduct investigations, change policies, or implement them in a different way. They will often send a letter either independently or in unison with other members expressing their joint concerns on an issue.

Inside-scoop

Much of the work that lawmakers do to make sure laws are implemented effectively is done through their correspondence with agencies, but we rarely hear about these accomplishments in the news media. Congress makes thousands of inquiries to the federal agencies each year. Some of this action yields sweeping policy changes and some make minor clarifications to regulations.

Congressional Consensus Building

Communication is Key

Lawmakers are in constant contact with one another, particularly those from the same state or region, or those with whom they share common interests and goals.

Caucuses and Conferences

Lawmakers find efficiency and strength in numbers which is why they form and join caucuses and conferences, which are likeminded groups. They may be as general as an entire political party, for example the Senate Republican Conference, or they may be as specific as the Congressional Bike Caucus. Sometimes caucuses and conferences span both the House and Senate due to common ties and interests. Caucusing and conferencing are effective ways for lawmakers to share their views on a policy and influence their colleagues to take up the issue and act.

Party Leadership

Lawmakers rely on their party affiliations to more swiftly enact the policies that often drag through the legislative process. Party heads or leaders are tasked with organizing and streamlining the rest of their party around a certain issue or bill.

Members reach out to their party leadership to communicate a policy change they wish to see as their leaders are better equipped to build consensus.

Consensus building is the key to accomplishing a legislative goal.

Inside-scoop

Party leaders tend to be the steady, more centric voices of their party. They cannot act as outliers because it would be too difficult to reign in other members around a cause. Party leaders must also be very cautious and deliberate in which bills they cosponsor or otherwise publicly support.

External Positioning

Facing the Public

Lawmakers engage in several forms of external communications to reassure or remind the public that certain issues are top of mind for them. They regularly release press statements or other public facing statements, or reinforce their message at events. Sometimes their means of communication might be as simple as a short Tweet, or it may be a more official interview with a radio station in their home state.

On Social MediaMembers will draw attention to policy stances they continue to support or actions they have taken. They may engage more visually by posting photos or infographics. A strong social media presence often allows members to connect to younger voters or those who might not be politically active

In PersonMembers typically attend several engagements a week, whether they are speaking at a conference, a gala dinner, a roundtable discussion, or a town hall meeting. Some of these forums allow them the opportunity to take questions from the public informally. They are almost always an opportunity for them to reiterate actions they ahve taken or positions for which they continue to advocate.

On the RecordLawmakers have to be prepared for campaign mode, and because Congress is a slow-moving body, they often have to campaign on what they have said, as opposed to what they have done. Something as simple and seemingly forgettable as a sound bite from an interview, can become a major campaign tool to appeal to voters on a certain issue.

Inside-scoop

In the age of the 24-hour news cycle and real time social media updates, Members have to act with caution about what they say and do because they are accountable for anything they say or any content produced on their behalf.

How Does Congress Manage Issues Relevant to Health Care?

How Congress Manages Issues
Relevant to Vision Care

Lawmakers are tasked with taking up policy matters from across a very broad spectrum of issues. To streamline the process of developing and considering bills, specific committees and federal agencies have jurisdiction over their own issues. For example, the congressional committees and federal agencies that handle the national parks will be different from those that deal with health care.

Contact lens safety and purchasing is both an issue of commerce and health, and there are differing legislative and regulatory bodies that respond to those subjects appropriately.

The Committee: As previously mentioned, committees are made up of several Members that are tasked with discussing and changing legislation before it can be considered by the entire body of Representatives or Senators.

If the committee takes up consideration of the bill, votes, and approves it — the bill will move onto the floor for general debate and consideration.

The Subcommittee: Subcommittees help Congress delegate the hearings and bills that come through the general committees, especially when a committee covers a very broad range of issues, like Energy and Commerce.

Congress

Relevant House of Representatives Committee

The Committee on Energy and CommerceResponsible for telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health research, environmental quality, energy policy, and interstate and foreign commerce. It oversees multiple federal agencies, including the Departments of Energy, Health and Human Services, Commerce, and Transportation, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission.

Committee Chairman: Congressman Fred Upton, who represents a district in Southwest Michigan currently serves as the chairman of this committee. Upton, a republican, has held this role since 2011, and his party has controlled the House of Representatives since that time.

The Subcommittee on Health: Handles hospitals, biomedical research and development, health information technology, privacy, and cybersecurity, public health insurance (Medicare, Medicaid) and private health insurance, and the regulation of food, drugs and cosmetics.

Committee Chairman: Senator John Thune, who represents the state of South Dakota currently serves as the chairman of this committee. Thune, a republican has held this role since 2015, after his party took control of the Senate.

The Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet: Has jurisdiction over matters relating to communications, including telephones, cell phones, the internet, commercial and noncommercial television, satellite communications, and consumer electronic equipment.

The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP)Has authority over these issues, and specifically within the health care space, the HELP Committee jurisdiction covers most of the agencies, institutes, and programs of Department of Health and Human Services, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Administration on Aging, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Committee also oversees public health and health insurance rules to address threats and changes to the health care industry.

Committee Chairman: Senator Lamar Alexander, who represent Tennessee, currently serves as the chairman of this committee. Alexander, a republican, has held this role since 2015, after his party took control of the Senate.

In addition to the United States Congress, both the Food and Drug administration and Federal Trade Commission have jurisdiction over the vision care industry.

Social link

Footer

This site is published by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., which is solely responsible for its content. This site is intended for visitors from the United States. ACUVUE®, ACUVUE OASYS®, 1-DAY ACUVUE® TruEye®, and 1-DAY ACUVUE® MOIST, are trademarks of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
The third party trademarks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.